Employment Based Visa Numbers the Outlook for Fiscal Year 2012

Fiscal year 2012 began on October 1, 2011 and as expected, we saw some movement in the visa bulletin. Here is a brief summary of what the US Visa Office reports seeing in terms of usage in the first 3 months of the FY 2012.

Employment-based usage has been quite slow, but we can still expect to see some advances in the EB bulletin. There are still some EB-2 cases from 2007 in the USCIS pipeline, so we will probably see EB-2 hover around that date until cases are cleared out before forward movement is consistent.

There has been a severe slowdown in the usage of EB-1 numbers, with some speculation that recent USCIS interpretation and clarification with regard to the standard for extraordinary ability cases has created a stricter standard and perhaps has dissuaded some applicants from filing cases.

The immigration attorneys at Fong & Aquino have been practicing employment-based immigration law for nearly than 50 years in total. While the early FY 2012 numbers reflect some slowdown in usage either due to a sluggish economy or stricter adjudications by USCIS, each case is fact-specific so if you have questions regarding an employment-based immigration case for yourself or someone you want to hire, give us a call for a consultation. We can assess your situation in detail to help you chart a path through 2012! —ecf